FOR ABOUT as long as I can remember, [West Ham](https://www.claretandhugh.info/the-magic-bullet-that-is-revolutionising-nunos-west-ham-united/) managers have been taking off forwards and bringing on extra defenders to try and cling on for a point or three.
It didn’t work when Alan Pardew tried it with Christian Dailly as an extra defender (ask your dad) and it didn’t work today.
Nuno couldn’t even use the excuse that he didn’t have any forwards to bring on: The cumbersome Traore and the creaking Callum Wilson were both deployed -eventually – but crucially, at 1-2 Nuno decided to break up the ‘two attackers’ Taty and Pedro who’d been doing such a good job of harrying, closing down and chasing endlessly which had contributed so much to put the Hammers in pole position.
With predictable results. Nuno couldn’t help himself from going to _three at the back_ in the vain hope that adding Max Kilman to his defensive line would shore up a West Ham side who were on the ropes for most of the second half.
Going ultra defensive merely invited Chelsea to step up and press for a win; The Blues duly obliged and Nuno will come in for some pretty justified criticism for undoing all of that hard work that saw West Ham fans in dream land with their side going in 2-0 up and the home side being boo’ed off.
The fracas at the end showed a dreadful loss of control from Traore, Mavropanos and Todibo who was red carded for grabbing an opponent by the throat. Not a difficult decision for Anthony Taylor and now West Ham have to cope without him for two crucial games. “Safety” looks a very long way away tonight.